QPWS has taken steps to improve the experience for people booking camping permits for the Thorsborne Trail, by changing to a ‘hiking seasons’ model. Camping permits for the entire 2026 hiking season will be released all at once on 16 December 2025 at 10am (Queensland time).

The Thorsborne Trail is now booked differently to other camping areas and great walks in Queensland, and differently to how it was booked before. Visit Thorsborne Trail bookings to familiarise yourself with the process well before the permit release, as permits for the peak hiking season (May-September) will sell out within an hour of the release. Be prepared with backup dates if you are initially unsuccessful.

Visit qld.gov.au/ThorsborneTrailHikingSeasons for information and updates about the changes including the camping permit release schedule. This page contains FAQs and information about how to be best prepared for the permit release.

To help spread hiker numbers more evenly across the trail and camping areas and avoid crowding, QPWS is also trialling a change from 40 people at any one time on the trail, to 12 people starting the trail each day. This will maintain similar usage consistent with Visitor Strategy limits.

The 2026 hiking season is 1 March-31 December. The standard annual seasonal closure period 1 January-28 February will remain in place to manage the increased risk of unsafe conditions at this time of year.